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Falsequill Sauceback
frame|left In a small number of spiney sauceback the temperatures of the Huggs-Yokto Savannah was too much for them, even with their heat sinks, and while most would just find shade when they could and do with that a minuscule amount of them began to dig into the dirt, which unearthed cooler terrain that they then laid down upon for small amounts of time to help cool off. Over the ages, this eventually led to a new species of sauceback, one that actually preferred to completely bury itself in dirt, and would remain there until they could surprise their prey. Initially, they would have to hide in the tall flora of the area, including the speckled berry plant due to their carapace heat sinks sticking out of the substrate but this problem was finally fixed by changing the overall shape of these 'spines', to make them appear more like quills — while this did not hide their spines from being out in the open it did allow them to be disguised as quillblades. To aid in this camouflage, much of their carapace is now a violet hue, to help make it indistinguishable from the plant, itself, to confuse would-be passersby. However, not all of its carapace has taken on the violet hue, and several of the small sections remain the golden sauce color of its predecessors. With this new strategy, the falsequill sauceback would bury itself in the dirt by day, both to cool itself off and catch herbivores who might try and eat what they think is a quillblades. Once a creature is within range, the sauceback will swing its tail in the direction of its intended victim, which will easily surface because the dirt is no longer compacted since the creature buried itself under it. If it misses, it may stand up to catch prey, but some will remain put and rebury their tails, preferring to keep themselves hidden from other potential meals. One of their favorite meals while burrowed is the bouncer plent, and they may often times try to bury themselves in the territory zone of a known one, hoping to catch it off-guard and puncture its oxygen sacs. armored noboms are also a favorite meal, which they try to catch off-guard long enough to make a fatal bite in a chink in their armor. Because they are a naturally digging species, they may actively hunt the burrowing trowelhorn gulpers, tunnel tasertongues, and shroom-thief plents if they should find their dens. They are not picky, and so a large variety of creatures may find themselves prey to the falsequill. At night, they will unbury themselves and hunt more like a typical sauceback, supplementing their diet with any creature they can catch, as they're not as likely to have caught all their required food during the daylight hours. During this time they have the added bonus of being able to sneak up on prey while it sleeps. Because of its natural strategy, they have begun to move into the Huggs-Yokto Desert as well, where they can more easily burrow themselves. However, it only can be found on the edges of this desert, as it has not yet correctly adapted to successfully survive further in. Young are born during the cooler months, and are laid in the ground while the female sauceback remains burrowed during the day. At this time, she will not eat until the night, when she will unburrow herself, but cover her eggs back up. She will remain close to the egg location until they hatch. Falsequill saucebacks begin life as strange, subterranean "larvae", who do not eat and instead live off of a protein sac attached to them. Once matured enough to hunt for prey, they will begin to hunt nocturnally until large enough to fool creatures into thinking they are a patch of quillblades. To aid in breathing while underground, a couple of their microlungs have been encased in carapace, which possess tubes leading up to the surface in the shape of quillblade leaves. Category:Somarinoa's Content Category:Species Category:Non-Sapient Species Category:Extraterrestrials Category:Carnivores Category:Extinct Species Category:Sagan IV Inhabitants Category:Illustrated Extraterrestrials